


You Don't Have to Say You Love Me

by alynwa



Category: NCIS
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-12
Updated: 2012-10-12
Packaged: 2017-11-16 03:56:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/535209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alynwa/pseuds/alynwa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ducky hears an oldie but goodie on the radio.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Don't Have to Say You Love Me

Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard was in his kitchen fussing over his dinner as the radio played softly in the background.  He had just checked on his roast chicken and potatoes and taken it out of the oven to rest.  He checked the time and figured that Jethro would be coming through the door in approximately thirty minutes.  “Everything will be ready,” he said aloud, “I know how you like to eat as soon as you come home, my dear.  If your third wife had ever figured _that_ out, that marriage might have lasted longer, much to my dismay.”

Ducky was so very used to having one – sided conversations at work that he no longer noticed when he spoke aloud at home, a fact that caused Jethro to learn that if he did not hear his name, he could safely conclude that he wasn’t being addressed.  He was about to place dinner rolls into the oven when the DJ’s voice caught his attention.

“Here’s a song from one of my favorite singers from the 60s: Dusty Springfield.”  A moment later, her voice emanated from the radio and Ducky turned up the sound.

  _When I said, I needed you_

_You said you would always stay…_

The song had reached Number One in the UK in his younger days and he hummed along as he continued his dinner preparation.  When she got to the chorus, he began to softly sing along “ _You don’t have to say you love me, just be close at hand.  You don’t have to stay forever, I will understand_.”

The lyrics made him think of his relationship with his beloved Jethro.  It had taken Gibbs years to realize and accept what Ducky had always known: There was a love between them that may have started with friendship, but had grown into something much more.  With a third divorce under his belt, Jethro had finally come to the conclusion that his marriages failed because his true love and affection belonged to a bespectacled, bowtie  wearing Scotsman who accepted him the way he was and didn’t wish to change him.

 _Jethro is a conundrum,_ he thought as he removed his apron and put his suit jacket back on, _an extremely simple man, but at the same time, an extremely complicated one.  A man of few words who expects his actions to speak for him, who expects complete and total honesty from those around him while he keeps a myriad of secrets, a man that I know loves me, but never says it._ He chuckled to himself.  “That’s alright, my dear,” he said and then began to sing along with Dusty again.  “ _You don’t have to say you love me…”_

A strong arm comes around his waist and pulls him backward into the body he has become as familiar with as his own.  A kiss is dropped onto his cheek followed by lips brushing against his ear and whispering, “Yes, I do.  I love you, Duck.  Always will.”

Ducky covers that arm with both of his own and before responding in kind thinks, _Yes Jethro, you are indeed a conundrum.  One I intend to spend the rest of my life attempting to solve._


End file.
